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Asuna Kagurazaka
Asuna Kagurazaka, aka Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia is a fictional character from the manga series Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, created by Ken Akamatsu. The 8th student in Japanese alphabetical order of class 2/3-A, she is the first female character connected to her teacher Negi Springfield and the co-lead character in the series. Although initially appearing as a bullheaded, slightly daffy girl, her encounters with Negi slowly awakens dormant abilities within her as well as a mysterious past that suggests she is something much greater and much worse than a mere middle-school student. Character design Based on her appearance and her personality, Asuna's character is mostly identical to Naru Narusegawa from Ken Akamatsu's previous series Love Hina. Asuna and Naru are similar: both are violent, short-tempered girls with limited patience towards the main male lead yet show a care and trust that grows as the story progresses. Despite similarities to Naru, Asuna does have some slight differences: she is among the more academically challenged of the class and doesn't hide her strengths with a double life. The double life characteristic of Naru transfers over to fellow student Chisame Hasegawa. Many of the early designs are similar to the current Asuna, except with thicker ponytails and minus her trademark "bells" on her head. Besides Negi, Asuna is the driving force of the entire Negima series. Like Negi, many of the character interactions center around Asuna, spanning from her long-standing rivalry with Ayaka to the harsh treatment put through by enemy/teacher Evangeline. Initially introduced as the lead interest within the "harem" of the original concept. While Asuna denies any romantic relationship with Negi repeatedly, there are numerous hints which suggest their romantic relationship in the future. Also, the story explores her mysterious background, which hints at an enigmatic power and a past that she has forgotten. Character outline Personality Asuna is often in conflict with other people, especially Ayaka. Asuna has a crush on her former homeroom teacher, Takahata, whom Negi replaces. Asuna is an orphan who was allowed into the school free by the school dean, yet still tries to pay towards her schooling with her wages earned delivering newspapers. Much to her chagrin, she is "Baka Red" of the Baka Rangers (or Dummy Force in the FUNimation Dub) and has the lowest test score average in the class, especially in English. She has heterochromia (her left eye is blue and her right eye is green). Negi and Asuna's relationship starts on very shaky ground, but quickly improves as they get to know one another. Asuna tends to act like an older sister towards Negi, and is fiercely protective of him, whether from enemies, the overly-affectionate (and perverted, in her opinion) schemes and actions of her classmates, or even Negi's own drive and ambition. Asuna denies any kind of romantic feelings between Negi or herself and is even a little repulsed by the very idea. Even so, there are moments which hint that their relationship could develop into a less platonic one. Negi has noted that with her hair down, Asuna has a striking resemblance to his sister Nekane Springfield. He also told others once in Asuna's presence that she even smells like Nekane, a scent he rather enjoys ("It's a very nice smell"), to Asuna's great embarrassment. She has demonstrated a fetish for older men based on her crush on Takahata and her reaction to meeting Konoka's father (although this may be related to her dormant memories of them from the past). She also expressed interest in going back in time to the Prohibition-era United States after learning about Cassiopeia. This is because she believes that many well-dressed older men (such as Al Capone and other gangsters) existed then. Abilities *'Pactio': Ensis Exorcizans: Asuna can summon either a harisen or a sword. Both are large, powerful weapons. Despite the large size, she can wield the weapons with no difficulty. The harisen exorcises demons with a single swipe, and the sword is strong enough to cleave through rock. However, the harisen has little to no effect against opponents that possess no magic, such as robots and non-magical beings. On the pactio card, Asuna is shown with a giant sword. The sword tends to manifest in situations of great emotion, such as Negi in a near-death situation. (The first time she summoned the sword she was under the impression Negi was about to be attacked by sharks, and did not seem to notice she had summoned the harisen.) No description is in the story regarding Asuna's weapon selection. Eventually, the probability of summoning the sword over the harisen increases, as she regains more of her wiped memories. This enables her to improve her control over her artifact, making it appear at will. Also, Asuna was able to counter multiple magical attacks with the sword. *''Kankahō: While traveling with the Crimson Wing, Asuna learned the abilities of ''Kankahō from Gateau Vandenberg. Forgotten alongside her lost memories of her time with Nagi's group, it slowly came back to her after witnessing Takamichi-sensei perform it in a battle against Negi, then awakened within her memories from an encounter with Albireo Imma. Combining the forces of magical energies and ki, she is able to fight with some magical skill both even with her own immunity from magic and even alongside her Pactio abilities. She is currently one of the few people in the world who can do this. It is sometimes called the perfect technique, although it uses up more power than ki or magic alone it has a lot of uses depending on the way the technique is used. *'Magic-canceling': A natural ability held within Asuna even from the moment she met Negi, Asuna was born with the abilities to cancel out spells that are cast upon her, preventing her from being affected by magic, although this doesn't seem to be the case with illusions (as shown in chapter 144). This ability blocks all spells from simple love potions to the most powerful abilities used by mages such as Fate Averruncus. Her usage in the previous mage war is connected to this ability locked within her. Though mostly it blocks magic from the outside, it seems to be a little weaker from blocking magic from the inside such as from when she ate some magical candies. Although the full effects of the candies never manifested themselves some limited amount of the effects were felt. Also, on a lighter side, she was able to hit Evangeline in her "average school girl" state more than once with Evangeline shouting "how dare you ignore my magical barrier like that!" Chachamaru has commented that Asuna is the only person who's ever been able to engage in a physical fight with Eva. At the beginning of the series, Asuna was still affected by some spells and magical items, having had her clothes blown off more than once. Although, as the series progresses her immunity to magic seems to grow stronger to the point where she can block a huge field of magical thunder. Her artifact is the Ensis Exorcizans, the demon-banishing sword, a giant sword that usually manifests as a large metal harisen; despite its appearance it still keeps its demon-banishing ability. The Ensis Exorcizans first appeared when Asuna tried to save Negi from the "sharks" in Chapter 61, and later during the tournament, and on her date with Takahata. At first, summoning the Ensis Exorcizans was dependent on her emotional state, but that seem to change when she learned to use kankahō. She has immunity to magic used against her, such as love potions or petrification spells. When she forced Negi to take a love potion he'd made for her, it affected every girl except for her. When she accidentally ate one of the love candies Negi had purchased, she thought it was the cause of her attraction to him - Konoka however, took one and went crazy over Setsuna. She also, after Alberio jogged her of her past memories and unleashed the sleeping powers within her, has the ability to use kankahō, an ability that combines ki and magic to infuse the wielder with great strength and speed. Plot overview As the first to find out about Negi's secret, Asuna saw him using magic to save Nodoka from falling down some steps. Initially Asuna merely was one of the only ones who knew the secret and assisted Negi with adjustment to this new environment. During his battle with Evangeline, she became Negi's first probationary contract. Asuna met the Thousand Master as a child when he saved her life during a battle, and traveled with the members of his group both before and after his disappearance. Asuna retains no memories from this period in her life, but has begun to re-experience them in dreams since Negi arrived. Later on, Alberio jogged her of her past memories and unleashed the sleeping powers within her. When her powers were awakened in her fight with Setsuna she turned her fan into the stone cleaver sword during the fight. The chances of her victory were very high but because of the tournament rules stating that no person was allowed bladed weapons she was disqualified. Recently, she went to tour the Mahora Festival with Takahata (as close as a date with him as she could possibly get) which predictably ends in heartbreak for Asuna, as her former teacher gently turns down her admission of love. She spends four days inside of Evangeline's Resort (which is four hours in the real world) moping about it, but is cheered up by her friends and is informed about Negi's latest Probationary Contracts with Yue and Haruna. Upon leaving the resort, she, Negi, and a few other girls are trapped in the future where Chao had already revealed the existence of magic to the world and Negi was arrested by the school board. After reuniting with Negi, they successfully traveled back to the third day of the School Festival. With their new knowledge of Chao's plans, they implemented a plan by Negi to stage a "mock-battle" against Chao's robot army. Asuna and Setsuna became part of the "Hero Unit" (which also included Negi, and a number of people who knew about magic), aiding all other participants in the "Mars vs. Mages" event, and helped Negi fight his way to Chao's airship. After the festival, Negi asked Asuna to come with him back to Wales along with the others to help him find his father. Asuna and several other of the girls had decided to form an investigation club in order to help Negi find his missing father during his trip to Wales. However, when it came time to elect a club president, the club advisor, Evangeline, vetoed the idea of giving Asuna the position. In order to prove her worthiness, Evangeline set up the same apprenticeship test as she had given to Negi, only this time, Asuna needed to score one clean hit on Negi himself. It was at that event that Asuna learned that Negi is ahead of her in terms of combat skills and she was soundly defeated. Kotaro notes, however, that her abilities are still rather impressive, as she had lasted fifteen minutes against Negi since she kept dodging and drew it out, even though the child teacher tried to finish her off quickly with one knock-out blow to limit any injuries to her. Thereafter, Asuna underwent somewhat cruel training sessions under Eva, which recently finished. She is then later attacked again by Ayaka as a part of the Badge stealing game, but easily defeats her after only receiving one blow from Ayaka (and rather than being angry at this, is very impressed that Ayaka landed such a solid hit). Asuna is feeling quite vexed after Ayaka tells the other girls to stop trying for Asuna's White Wing Badge (reminding them of how easily she could defeat all of them), then turning around and inviting them on a personal trip to Wales aboard her private jet. It is at this point that Negi's childhood friend Anya appears. She entered the portal to the Magical World along with the rest of her classmates through a Stonehenge-like portal, arriving in a lobby area similar to an airport terminal, where everyone's weapons (both mundane and magical) were placed into a sealed box due to the security policy at the "airport". When Fate and his companions attack the class, Asuna breaks the sealed box by simply punching it (presumably, the seal was broken by her Magic-Canceling). However despite her and many of the other members of the White Wing's efforts, Fate succeeds in destroying the magical gateway, and scattering all the members of the White Wing and the Sports Girls all over the magical world. She eventually met up in the wilderness with Setsuna and the two began searching for Konoka, although the two did manage to send word to Negi that they are alright, and to meet up with them at a place called Ostia. After searching for a while the two of them reunited with Konoka and Kaede, and most recently, she has reunited with Negi in Osita, much to her relief. She, along with Negi and the others, are warned about Nodoka being attacked by the "Black Hounds." They rush to her aid in time to save her. Asuna manages to block and repel a trap spell which was intended for Kaede and Setsuna. In the end, they saved Nodoka. Afterwards, they returned at the city. When Asuna found out that Negi is using Dark Magic, she refuses to let Negi continue using it. But, in the end she gave in and promises that she will help Negi even in the depths of hell. During Negi's negotiations with Fate, Asuna flew enraged and hit both Negi and Fate with her harisen, and blames Negi if millions would die if he did what Fate said. When Negi declines Fate, Asuna engages with two of Fate's Ministra Magi. During the fight, she gets defeated, and one of Fate's Ministra Magi, Shiori, kisses Asuna, which results in the creation of a reproduction of her. She (and Anya) is currently captured by Fate's accomplices. Meanwhile, Shiori is currently posing as Asuna as she spies on Negi's group. No one in the party has realized this yet. Fate is also currently forcing Asuna's memories back. Appearances in other media Mahō Sensei Negima! (1st Anime) Her magic canceling ability was the result of a contract with a demon king (the Devil in the English dub). Asuna agreed to the contract in order to lose or at least suppress a natural magical ability she possessed since early childhood: the power to summon demons. This ability caused destruction and carnage wherever she went, causing Asuna a great heartache. Her demon-given ability was the indirect cause of Nagi's disappearance, as she inadvertently nullified his magic barrier during a fight with a demon. The price of the contract was that Asuna was to die at 12:00 midnight on her 14th birthday. That date would be 23 October 2003 (based on a banner, leaving some to believe her birthday may be in the year 1989Officially, her year of birth, according to this version, is in the year 1988.). Just before her death, it is possible that Asuna was about to tell Negi that she liked him, as she had been turned down by Takahata, but the clock struck midnight before she could get the words out. After Asuna's death, Negi desperately searches for a way to bring her back. Eventually, he uses Chao's time machine watch to go back in time. However, due to using too much magic, he is instead transported back to nine years ago, also unintentionally dragging the entire class with him. During his stay in the past, he meets his father Nagi and learns about Asuna's contract with the demon king. After Nagi's disappearance, the demon king absorbed young Asuna and planned to use her as a barrier. After some convincing by Negi and his students, young Asuna assists them in destroying the demon king. However, even with the demon king's demise the contract could not be terminated. After returning to the present day, to the time where the class was celebrating Asuna's birthday, Chao, Satomi and Evangeline invented a special device that, working right under the World Tree, combined with all the special powers of Negi's students, successfully terminated the contract for good. Negima!? Although Asuna keeps her well intentioned, Negi-assisting nature, this version has made her slightly daffier in her ways. She is a slacker and not quite as smart as she appears, making her a true member of the "Baka Rangers". One of her most bizarre traits is her obsession with chupacabra in this version, at first believing it as the assaulter on Mahora campus (instead of Evangeline). After Evangeline's defeat, Asuna opens a chupacabra club in pursuit of capturing the mythical creature (of whom most of the members are volunteers whom Asuna drags to the meetings, with the exception of Haruna). As the story progresses, the Chupacabra club evolves into a full magic education class with Negi as the mentor, but her obsession with the creature never goes away (to the point of forcing the rest of 3-A to buying her printed Chupa-T-shirts after they all become Negi's partners and therefore join "the club"). Ultimately Asuna does receive a chupacabra as a present from Anya, but she is forced to return it to the wild before too long (not before making it sign all of the T-shirts she made through the run of the series). While Asuna once again the first to gain Pactio in this series, the powers and artifacts she gains are slightly different. The main Manga Pactio ability is split into two in this version: Asuna's armor form allows her to possess the massive sword she wields when using the full power of her ability, while her Cosplay form gives her the harisen form of the Pactio while dressed in a kimono. When transformed into Suka form, Asuna takes the form of a small wild boar piglet. Towards the end of the series, she is turned evil by the power of the Star Crystal infecting Evangeline, but this only lasts until her vampiric host is defeated in battle. It should be noted that in this series, both of Asuna's eyes are blue, instead of her having heterochromiaIn the 2007 Negima!? calendar, Asuna is depicted with a blue left eye and a blue-green right eye, close to how she is supposed to be depicted. However, every other illustration of Asuna by Studio Shaft shows her with two blue eyes., and her hair takes a life on its own depending on her state of mind (it even spells out words). She is also the last one to know Sayo after the latter made a Pactio with Negi (she was asleep when the rest of the class became aware of their ghost classmate through Kazumi's digital camera). Her interest in Takamichi, albeit a known fact, is almost unseen in many episodes in this series following the first three. But in the eighteenth episode, Konoka and Setsuna manage to urge Takamichi into talking to her. The two do this to avert her attention from asking too many questions to Nekane about the Black Rose Baron (and eventually letting Nekane spill the beans about her secret identity) despite an unwritten agreement between Negi, Takamichi, and his students to keep Nekane's secret identity to themselves. Footnotes Category:Negima characters Category:Anime and manga characters who can move at superhuman speeds Category:Anime and manga characters who can teleport Category:Anime and manga characters with superhuman strength Category:Anime and manga martial artists Category:Fictional orphans Category:Fictional artists Category:Fictional princesses Category:Fictional mixed martial artists Category:2003 comics characters debuts